Sunday, March 2, 2008

Devils Shut Down by Sound Tigers, 3-1
Lowell hosts Hershey on Wednesday

LOWELL, MA - The Lowell Devils could not find an answer for goalie Mike Morrison's 31-save performance in a 3-1 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday afternoon at the Tsongas Arena.

Despite outshooting the Sound Tigers 15-4 in the second period, the Devils found themselves on the wrong side of a 2-1 score.  The first goal of the contest came midway through the period on the Sound Tigers’ 11th shorthanded goal of the season.  Steve Regier took a rush from his own blue line only to have his backhander stopped by Frank Doyle, but Tim Jackman followed to clean up the garbage at 11:21 for a 1-0 Bridgeport lead. 

The Sound Tiger then upped their lead to two with 2:46 left until the first break when Justin Bourne swept into the near circle to gather a loose puck and quickly sent it into the top shelf.

The Devils in turn were able to pull back within one with under a minute left in the same period.  After Ivan Khomtuov threw a wrist shot toward Morrison, Nicklas Bergfors came crashing in and pushed the puck across the goal line before following it into the net.  Benoit Mondou extended his point streak (4g, 5a) to six games with an assist on what was Bergfors’ ninth goal of the season.

Any momentum Lowell had built going into the final period was quelled after just 26 seconds on Jackman’s second of the night.  After controlling the opening face off, Dustin Kohn launched a shot from the blueline that got lost in traffic in front of Doyle.  Jackman was able to track it down on the near hash and fire it into the open net to make the score 3-1. 

Lowell went 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Doyle turned away 24-of-27 in the loss.

The Lowell Devils finish their three-game home swing on Wednesday, March 5 at 7:05 p.m. against the Hershey Bears.  It’s Dollar Dawg Night as all hot dogs are just $1 for fans in attendance. Tickets start at just $10; call the Devils office at (978) 458-PUCK for more information or visit www.lowelldevilshockey.com.  The Devils then complete their weekend with two road games:  Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. against the Springfield Falcons and Saturday, March 8 versus the Worcester Sharks at 7:05 p.m..  Listen to all of the Devils action from Ryan Johnston on 980AM WCAP or www.b2livetv.com. 

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